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Post by Jen on Sept 29, 2006 20:19:53 GMT 7
Posting this here in the hope that Justin or anyone else of course can suggest some more suitable weaning foods for my male eclectus Monty.
I have been offering soft things like pumpkin and corn etc and even made him some polenta which i set into a slice with capsicum, corn and a few peas. He kind of plays with it but doesnt really eat much quantity. He has been objecting to the roudybush so i tried a different formula which has more texture and he ate it really well for a day or two but again has stopped wanting to eat much of it.
He is nearly fully feathered now and I know he will probably lose a bit of weight in readiness for taking flight but i worry that he isn't eating enough.
He has always been a very slow eater and sometimes it can take half an hour until i am satisfied he has eaten enough.
What can I try to tempt him with next???
jen
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Post by Peter on Sept 30, 2006 5:34:34 GMT 7
Try everything! That would be my solution! Pt some seed, some fruit, and anything else you can think of in there for him that he might eat! I have had a similar problem with almost every bird i have h/r. I start to panic cause they are not eating properly for a few days, but then they are fine, and start on the hard food! Still offer him the h/r mix as well.
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Post by USAJustin on Oct 1, 2006 0:30:59 GMT 7
Sorry for the late reply on this. Jen, Pete's right in saying that everything should be offered to him. However one thing I've found is that when you offer birds like Ekkies & African Greys alot of foods in one feeding it gives them a chance to reject alot more things.
One thing I would suggest is one day give him say sweet potatoe's, steamed carrots and something else then the next day try him with some different foods. remember that birds are flock animals and like to feel part of the flock so you can sit there and eat the new foods with him and hand him small pieces to eat.
Best Of Luck.
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Post by USAJustin on Oct 1, 2006 0:33:22 GMT 7
I forgot to mention too that if he's rejecting the formula then it's a good sign that he's getting ready to wean. What I would do just keep an eye on him and feed him only when he is begging. Then you will know he is ready to accept the formula.
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Post by Peter on Oct 2, 2006 5:30:17 GMT 7
Tibor (even though he is a year old) still begs to be fed! I know cockatoos can take months and months to wean, but he has been eating seed for ages, and when I have tried to give him a feed every now and then of h/r mix he wont eat it! What a fool!
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Post by bubbles on Oct 2, 2006 15:08:09 GMT 7
With Herbie when I was weaning him I made up risotto like mixtures with vegetable puree and hand fed it to him and he weaned in no time and always had a full belly  |
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Post by Mark on Oct 2, 2006 17:16:45 GMT 7
when i weam my birds i give them 2 feeds a day for 1 week ( Morning and night)
and one at night for the next week then i stop feeding them H/R mix all togeather ( unless realy needed)
I give them FRESH Apple , Corn and seed Daily during this process and then i interduce other fruit and vedge at a later stage ( 1 at a time so i can see wot the bird likes and dis likes )
And when it comes to Training i use UN salted UN roasted Peanuts
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Post by Jen on Oct 3, 2006 9:50:45 GMT 7
Thanks so much everyone for your replys, the emergency has been averted for the time being as the next time i went to feed him he absolutely gobbled his food more than every before so maybe he was just a bit off it. Plus I added a bit of another brand of formula and that may have helped if he was just bored with the tasteof it. I Have started putting other things in for him to try and he loves strawberries! Also found some pasta made with 100% corn in the health food section of the supermarket and he thinks that is great too. However he also thinks a cardboard tube is great so who knows  |
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Post by USAJustin on Oct 3, 2006 14:37:36 GMT 7
Keep in mind too Jen that sometimes when a bird has formula/food in it's belly it may not be wanting more at that time. I've done that before with the first lot of African Greys I raised. I fed them on schedule and couldn't figure out why they had no feeding response. It wasn't until I let the formula in their crops pass through that I got a response from them. So know I don't feed on schedule, I just feed when they're hungry. My weaning proceedure is very similar to what Eagle Described. I tend to give more foods that are high in Betacarotene such as carrots, sweet potato's, Yellow squash. I steam them, mash them mix with with seed and other stuff so the food seems more enticing for them.
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Post by Jen on Oct 4, 2006 12:56:49 GMT 7
Thanks Justin,
Yes I did check and he didn't seem to have anything in his crop at the time. But anyway its all good at the moment. He isnt eating as much as he used to but then he is trying other things in between so this would decrease his appetite at meal times also.
Again Thanks everyone for responding so quickly
Jen
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Post by Mark on Oct 4, 2006 17:04:11 GMT 7
I like Justin dont feed birds on a time table i only frrd them when there hungry or there crops are empty
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artm
New Member
Posts: 2
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Post by artm on Dec 11, 2006 0:27:29 GMT 7
From your last entry it sounds like your E is close to weaning? How old is it ? when you are saying trying other things? expound on that? Heck he may be almost weaned? do you leave fruit and veggies and pellets and seed for him to play with ( eat) One year I raised 27 SIE from day one. maybe we can help better if we had more info? artM
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